MIDDLE EAST: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned Saudi Arabia about threatening the might of Iran, as a war of words between the regional heavyweights intensifies.

TECHNOLOGY: Twitter is officially expanding its character count to 280 across the world, doubling the traditional 140-character count.

TOP STORY

North Korea: Trump offers diplomacy, while warning Pyongyang.

US President Donald Trump arrived in China, primed to ask his host, President Xi Jinping, to step up Chinese pressure on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

China is North Korea’s most important diplomatic ally and largest trading partner, and Trump has long said Beijing holds the key to controlling Kim’s regime.

In an address to the South Korean National Assembly, President Trump warned North Korea: “Do not underestimate us, and do not try us.”

Trump devoted a large part of his address to detailing the human rights abuses that the ruling Kim family have committed in North Korea, filling his speech with words like “twisted,” “sinister,” “tyrant,” “fascism” and “cult.”

Trump did hint at a chance of diplomacy to resolve the standoff, but only if North Korea were to stop its provocative behavior, quit developing ballistic missiles, and agree to “complete, verifiable, and total” denuclearization.

Pyongyang says it’s actions not words that matter, pointing to three US aircraft carriers and a submarine currently off the coast of the Korean Peninsula.

Kenya: The US-based observer group Carter Center called on the country’s political leaders to engage in constructive talks to help avert political crisis in the country following the 26OCT presidential elections. (Xinhua)

Morocco: The country launched its first observation satellite, to be used for military activities, surveillance of its borders and coastline and monitoring desertification in the region. (AP)

Somalia: African Union peacekeeping troops will be reduced in the country by 1,000, starting next month. (VOA)

South Sudan: The government is seeking to avoid a military clash with former Army Chief of General Staff Paul Malong, now detained after his refusal to surrender his bodyguards. (Xinhua)

AMERICAS

Bolivia: Thousands of Bolivians rallied in La Paz, calling for President Evo Morales to be allowed to run for a fourth consecutive term in 2019. (BBC)

Mexico: Reconstruction following two deadly earthquakes in September that killed 465 people will require USD 2.5B, President Enrique Pena Nieto announced. (AFP)

Nicaragua: Violence erupted following municipal elections, killing seven and injuring dozens in clashes between opposition and government supporters and police. (DPA)

ASIA

Region: Twenty-one Pacific Rim countries worked to reach a consensus on open markets as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation convened. (AP)

Region: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte stopped construction work on a newly formed sandbar in the disputed South China Sea after China protested. (AP)

China: American and Chinese companies signed more than a dozen deals worth USD 9B as President Trump arrived in the country. (USA Today)

Philippines: Former President Benigno Aquino was charged for mishandling a botched anti-militant raid that resulted in the death of 44 police commandos in 2015. (Reuters)

Sri Lanka: More than 50 men from the Tamil ethnic minority say they were abducted and tortured under Sri Lanka’s current government. (AP)

EUROPE

Region: The US unveiled criminal charges detailing a bribery scheme for British defense giant Rolls-Royce to win contracts in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and other countries. (RFE/RL)